SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

The 2nd Annual KG Classic Softball Tournament – Fundraiser for OK in memory of Kathy Garrigan

MARCH 12, 2009

OK is officially incorporated; Board of Directors & Auxiliary Board are established.

OK filed its’ Articles of Incorporation and began developing the scope and strategy of the mission.

MARCH 28, 2009

Hoops for the Troops – First Community Service Project

“In order to accomplish our vision, an event such as Hoops for the Troops alllows for everyone participating in these events to become not only an active member in our community but also encourages the world tocreate opportunities for all. With help from these young warriors and your understanding of the importance community interaction holds in our mission, we wanted to personally thank you for your support in Opening doors, Creating opportunities and changing lives. Being a part of our first community service project is just the beginning. We hope for you to join us in our many other future endeavors but for now, please view the list below i order for us to help all of our overseas soldies.”

MAY 30, 2009

First Interest Inventory/Fun For the Future

“Today is the day! Opportunity Knocks wants to know what you the participant wants. We are beginning to make strides toward developing our after school programs activities and the first step is to determine what our participants are interested in doing. We will be conducting an interest inventory to find out your likes, dislikes and things you want to try. After we do the inventory we will hangout and enjoy pizza and games. We can’t move forward without your input, so please try to attend.”

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

Strategic Plan developed and approved by OK Board of Directors.

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Agree in terms to a lease with the River Forest Community Center; Begin build-out and renovation of program space.

JANUARY 2009

The 1st Annual Chili Cook Off

“The OK Chili Cook Off was an event meant to show appreciation for those who have supported our mission. For our newcomers we also used this event to raise awareness about what we are doing at Opportunity Knocks. We hosted a Chili Cook Off, cheered on the Bears and generally had a blast. Special guests included Neal Cotts, Mike Phelan and Jarvis Hart.”

MAY 30, 2009

Volunteers and teachers from OPRF High School met with possible participants and surveyed them on activities they wanted to participate in for programming

SEPTEMBER 26, 2009

The 4rd Annual KG Classic Softball Tournament

“The KG CLASSIC is an annual 14′, co-ed, bracket-style charity softball tournament dedicated to celebrating the memory of Kathleen M. Garrigan, a beloved Oak Parker who died tragically in a boating accident in 2007. This event serves as a day to remember and honor Kathy while raising money and awareness for the causes she held closest to her heart.”

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

OK Launches the After Opps evening program

JANUARY 24, 2010

The 2nd Annual Chili Cook Off

MARCH 31, 2010

The OK Van is generously donated by Dominican University.

“On March 31, 2010, Opportunity Knocks received the very generous donation of transportation from the good people at Dominican University. It came in the form of a 1994 Chevy G-Van that seats 15. She’s an old war wagon with a few miles on her, but thanks to the light use by the staff at DU and with the help of our Guys over at Deece Automotive Inc. (6545 W. Stanley, Berwyn, IL 60402. Tel. 708.484.6758) she’ll be road-ready in no time at all. This donation Opens Doors that were previously only ajar at The Knocks. So, special thanks to Mike Fair and friends at Dominican University, as well as Jimmy, Brian and the fellas at Deece Auto for helping us Create some new Opportunities. We’ve got some great people on our side!“

APRIL 2010

Parents surveyed on current state of programming, desired programming, important activities, vocation, etc.

APRIL 10, 2010

The 1st Annual Night for Opportunities Gala 

MAY 7, 2010

The First After Opps Showcase – The OK Idol

Friday, May 7th marked the end of our second session of programs at The Knocks and you know us, we just had to put on a show. One of the featured activities during this session was karaoke, so naturally, the feature of the showcase was our version of American Idol. The Warriors took to the stage in a major way and put on a great show for all of our friends and family that came out in support. Special thanks to our guys, The Velvet Jimis and Paul Cozzi, for making the event official! And as always, major thanks to all of our volunteers who made this another great session at The Knocks. We couldn’t do it without you!

JUNE 4, 2010

The Baby Cup Fundraiser

SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

The 9/11 Lemon-Aid Stand 

“On September 11, 2010 an amazing group of families from the 700 Block of Bonnie Brae in River Forest put on their 9th annual Charity Lemon-Aid Stand. They started the event on the first anniversary of 9/11 to make positive things happen on a negative day in history. Each year they choose a local charity to benefit from the proceeds. This year they chose Opportunity Knocks. Honored, grateful and inspired are just a few words we can think of to describe a very special day.”

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

The 4rd Annual KG Classic Softball Tournament

“On Saturday, September 25, 2010 we gathered again on the Softball Fields in Forest Park to celebrate the life and memory of Kathy Garrigan at the 4th Annual KG Clasic. Once again the weather held up for a great day of food, fun, family, friends and softball. Thanks to everyone who came out in support!”

JANUARY 2011

The 3rd Annual Chili Cook Off

It was our 3rd annual Chili Cook Off and hundreds of us gathered to taste some great chili, cheer on the hapless Bears and support Opportunity Knocks. Minus the Bears letdown, it was a great day, as we raised nearly $13K for the Warriors at OK.

FEBRUARY 2011

OK’s One-Year Anniversary Party

On Saturday, February 19th, we gathered together to celebrate the one-year anniversary of OK’s after school program. The party theme was superheros and villains. Big thanks to all those who joined us to celebrate and to the volunteers who helped make it a great event. Special thanks to emcee Nick Sak for calling the freeze-dance and limbo contests, DJ Magic Mike Capraro on the 1s and 2s and Armand’s Pizzeria for providing the delicious pizza.

APRIL 2, 2011

The 2nd Annual Night for Opportunities Gala

On April 2, 2011 Opportunity Knocks hosted the 2nd Annual Night for Opportunities. The event hosted nearly 300 guests to an evening of fine food and drink from The Carleton, live music from the band How Far to Austin, exciting auctions and the premiere of a ‘Through a Warrior’s Eyes,’ a video produced by the Warriors of Opportunity Knocks. The Night was a huge success as we came together to raise $45,000 for the programs at Opportunity Knocks. Here’s a few snapshots of the good times. Enjoy! 

JULY 1, 2011

OK Obtains 501c.3 status and dissolves relationship with fiscal agent, Goodcity.

JULY 29, 2011

The First Annual OK Tee-It-Up Golf Outing

On Friday, July 29, 2011 we hosted our very first OK Tee-It-Up golf outing at the Willow Crest Golf Club. Ana Beleval from the WGN Morning News joined us to kick things off as we hosted more than 100 golfers and a whole bunch more folks who came for the after-round dinner party. After a scary weather forecast and some nasty storms the night before the outing, the sun even decided to join us! All in all it was a great day. So great, in fact, that we think we’ll make it an annual thing! Check out the pics!

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

The 5th Annual OK Classic Softball Tournament

At our 5th Annual OK Classic Charity Softball Tournament, we saw record fundraising totals from our teams and players, welcomed some new local restaurants into the food tent, hosted some awesome live music, had the honor of a Heisman trophy winner tossing out the ceremonial first pitch, were surprised by our first celebrity player appearance and watched as our first two-time winner took it’s second consecutive title. We also had a lot of fun and posted our most successful fundraiser to date!! Thanks for coming out! See you back next year.

JANUARY 2012

The 4th Annual Chili Cook Off

More than 300 of our closest friends gathered together with us at Healy’s on the NFL’s Championship Sunday to kick off the first of OK’s Big Four Fundraisers. With 25 batches of chili on the contest table, our star-studded panel of chefs braved their way through three rounds of tasting to crown this year’s 2012 Chili Cup Champions! Congratulations are in order to this year’s winners, Steve Ames and Clay O’Brien. Also a big tip of the cap to first runner up, Steve Berggren and third place winner, Brian Burkle. This was by and far our best cook off yet and we can’t wait until we get the pleasure of doing it again next year!

APRIL 14, 2012

The 3rd Annual Night for Opportunities Gala

On Saturday, April 14, 2012 we hosted our 3rd annual OK Gala. It was by far our most well-attended Gala, as we gathered nearly 500 of our closest friends and family in support of the OK Mission. With a record crowd on hand, we also set a record high fundraising total. It was a great night made even better as the Warriors took center stage when they showed off their awesome dance moves. Check out the pics. Special thanks to Samantha Deuchler and Chris Saquido for taking these awesome pics.

MAY 16, 2012

The OK Bus

Just closed a big deal today! Check out the new wheels on order for Opportunity Knocks! The Warrior Wagon should roll out some time in the next week to 10 days! Ain’t she a pretty machine!? … Big thanks to everyone who pitched in to make this happen! What an awesome team effort! More to come soon!

JUNE 2012

The 2nd Annual Tee-It-Up Golf Outing

Big thanks to a great group of golfers who joined us for the 2nd Annual OK Tee-It-Up Golf Outing at Bloomingdale Golf Club. It was a great day for golf and we were glad so many great people could be a part of it! Check out the pics!

JUNE 2012

The OK Pig Roast Block Party

A simple post-round dinner after the Tee-It-Up Golf Outing just wasn’t quite enough of an affair for us. So we decided to get big and throw a block party after this year’s golf outing. Turns out it was a great idea! Skrine Chops catered the pig roast, Burke Beverage and Fatduck put out cold drinks and How Far to Austin provided some rockin’ entertainment. Great times for our first time out. We’re already looking forward to the next one!

JUNE 21, 2012

The OK Shumpout Basketball Camp

On Thursday June 21 Opportunity Knocks held the 1st OK Shumpout. It was a day where campers had the opportunity to fine tune their basketball skills and get on the court to play some games. We were also lucky and fortunate to have Oak Park’s own and current NBA Star Iman Shumpert join us for this event. He came in and hung out with the campers. He also took time to answer some questions our campers had for him. It was great seeing him give back to the community. We would also like to send out a special thank you to Iman’s former college teammates Lance Storrs and Mo Miller for coming along for the ride. A special thanks also goes out to all of the Opportunity Knocks staff, Matt Barber and WSSRA, the OPRFHS Girls Basketball team and coaches, Huskie Alumni Bball players and last but not least the River Forest Community Center for allowing us to take over the gym. More special thanks goes out to Ashley Smith and Courtney Sakallaris for making this event possible. At the end of the day everyone left with a smile! I almost forgot to thank our gracious sponsor Addidas for providing us with incredible shirts! 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

OK Launches Morning Opps, a partner program at OPRF High School

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

The 6th Annual OK Classic Softball Tournament

130 volunteers, 325 softball players, 812 donors, 51 sponsors and more than 1,000 guests joined in to make this one of the best Classics yet! It was a cold and windy morning, but surprise-surprise, the afternoon sun made for a beautiful Saturday of food, fun and softball!

JANUARY 2013

The 5th Annual Chili Cook Off

It was our 5th Annual cook off and much like the 4th before it, it was our best one yet! Three of our favorite food celebrity chef judges, a new sponsor in Weichert Realtors, iPads utilized to make it an entirely paperless event, two surprise bagpipers, our first two-time chili champ crowning and just about 500 of our closest friends came together to kick off the 2013 OK Event Calendar with a boom!

MARCH 13, 2013

Life Shop SMART Boart Installed

APRIL 2013

The 4th Annual Night for Opportunities Gala

This year’s Night for Opportunities gathered more than 400 of our closest friends, family and supporters to celebrate the Warrior Mission. We danced, we dined and we recognized so many of the great people who make our organization strong. We love getting dressed up and fancy with you all. Thanks for coming out to support OK!

JUNE 2013

The 3rd Annual Tee-It-Up Golf Outing

Despite the weather not being on our side this year, we had an amazing turn out for the 3rd annual Tee-It-Up Golf Outing! We would like to thank the event committee, volunteers and all of our amazing supporters who helped make it a great success. Special thanks to our Yellow Tee Sponsors, Weichert Realtors Nickel Group. And most importantly, thanks to the ever-so-patient and understanding golfers for bearing the elements with us and still making it such a successful and fun event!

JUNE 2013

The 3rd Annual BBQ Block Party

We battled through some rough weather at this year’s Block Party. For those who braved the elements and came out to have a great time with us, we can’t thank you enough. We chowed down on BBQ offerings from Skrine Chops, Big Guys Sausage Stand and Piggyback Tavern and we quenched our thirst at the Fatduck beverage booth. With dessert by Sugared Sweets and Gina’s Italian Ice, we couldn’t have been better fed. We rocked out to Breezy and the Coolers, followed by Hello Nuvo and we even dunked a few of our favorite warriors in the Dunk Tank. Good fun! Thanks for coming out!

JULY 1, 2013

Warrior Wellness Begins

JULY 24, 2013

OK Receives Coleman Foundation Grant

AUGUST 13, 2013

OK Launches Phase II, The Life Shop, a day program for adults older than 22

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

The 1st Annual Warrior Wash

Opportunity Knocks partnered up with Weichert Realtors Nickel Group for our first ever Warrior Wash! On a perfect Saturday afternoon in Forest Park, what a car wash it was! 4 hours, more than 75 cars, and a whole lot of Warriors and Volunteers later, we walked away with making over $1,300 dollars! The proceeds will be split between Opportunity Knocksand the OK Community Opporunities program, an incubating non-profit within the non-profit driven by the Warriors. Currently the Community Opps program is focused on assisting other local non-profits by providing needed supplies to their organizations of choice. We would of course like to thank Weichert Realtors Nickel for all of their help and support. We would also like to thank Healy’s Westside for supplying the Water, The Juice Joint for donating smoothies and our new friends at Zimmerman-Harnett Funeral Home for donating their parking lot for the day! Lastly, we want to thank all of you that came out to get your cars washed! Wouldn’t have been worthwhile without your support. Thank you! 

SEPTEMBER 2013

The 7th Annual OK Classic Softball Tournament

It was another awesome display of community. 120 some odd volunteers. 48 sponsors. 1200 or so attendees, 360 softball players, 3 live bands, 12 food vendors, one shining sun, zero incidents and more smiles, hugs and laughs than I could possibly count. Thanks to all who chipped in to make this one of the most successful events we have ever had the pleasure of hosting.

DECEMBER 2013

First Annual Holiday Breakfast

It was our 5th Annual cook off and much like the 4th before it, it was our best one yet! Three of our favorite food celebrity chef judges, a new sponsor in Weichert Realtors, iPads utilized to make it an entirely paperless event, two surprise bagpipers, our first two-time chili champ crowning and just about 500 of our closest friends came together to kick off the 2013 OK Event Calendar with a boom!

JANUARY 12, 2014

The 1st Annual Chili Dash

JANUARY 12, 2014

The 6th Annual Chili Cook Off

The launch of our first ever fun run, a change of venue and the great doughnut challenge of 2014 were just a few of the highlights at this year’s OK Sunday-Funday.

FEBRUARY 2014

Auxiliary Board Receives Excellence in Philanthropy Award from the OPRF Community Foundation

Yesterday, we received some fantastic news. Our OK Auxiliary Board received the OPRF Community Foundation’s 2014 “Excellence in Philanthropy” award! We are so blessed to have so many amazing community members dedicating their time and energy to support our mission! Check out the press release on our website

APRIL 2014

The 5th Annual Night for Opportunities Gala

MAY 1, 2014

First Warrior Walk to Run Club

MAY 2014

Google Chromebook Donations

A big THANK YOU to Google and Sara Kalish for 50 of these slick new Chromebooks for our tech arsenal! #techswag

JUNE 2014

The OK Tee-It-Up Golf Outing

Weather was on our side for the 4th Annual TIU Golf Outing. Thanks to the planning committee, volunteers, sponsors, and golfers for coming out and supporting the cause on such a beautiful day! Congrats to Drew, Dario, Rick, and John for winning this year’s competitive round!

JUNE 14, 2014

The OK BBQ Block Party

The party was poppin on June 14th, 2014 for our 4th Annual BBQ Block Party in Forest Park! Big thanks to the planning committee, event volunteers, sponsors, vendors, bands, Burger Battle judges & contestants, Pie Pigout contestants, Warriors, and attendees who made the day a raging success! We’ll see you next year!

JULY 10, 2014???

First Wellness Wednesday at After Opps???

Despite the weather not being on our side this year, we had an amazing turn out for the 3rd annual Tee-It-Up Golf Outing! We would like to thank the event committee, volunteers and all of our amazing supporters who helped make it a great success. Special thanks to our Yellow Tee Sponsors, Weichert Realtors Nickel Group. And most importantly, thanks to the ever-so-patient and understanding golfers for bearing the elements with us and still making it such a successful and fun event!???

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

Life Shop and Midtown Fitness collaboration airs on ABC News

September 2014

The 8th Annual OK Classic Softball Tournament

It was an epic day of endless fun: softball, friends, food, drank, music, games, raffles, college football, KG Fun Zone, and much more! Thanks to all the players, donors, sponsors, planning committee, volunteers, vendors, bands, and everyone who came out to support the Warriors!

DECEMBER 2, 2014

#GivingTuesday

We can’t thank all you generous folks enough for the amazing turnout on #GivingTuesday. Here are some numbers to express the profound impact you all made yesterday in just 24 hours: Total New Donors: 81 Total Individual GT Donations: $30,731.01 Total Matching Gifts: $32,960.00 Total Giving Tuesday Donations: $63,691.01 Thank you so much for supporting the Warriors and our programs!

DECEMBER 2014

Fitness Room Renovation

Happy New Year’s Eve! We are ready to get fit in 2015! Check out some shots of our fitness room renovation process over the past few weeks and some of the good folks that made it happen! Thank you to the Oak Park Tennis and Fitness Centre for donating the new cardio equipment, thanks to Mike Coggin for donating the paint, to Mike White and his crew for painting, the Oak Park Community Mental Health Board and the rest of our donors for allowing us to purchase new sand weights and flooring, and to our staff for putting in the floor! Have a fun and safe night tonight everybody! #warriorwellness #20fitteen

JANUARY 11, 2015

The 2nd Annual Chili Dash

The 10k route started at the River Forest Community Center and went by some of our favorite local spots including Midtown Athletic Club Oak Park, Pure Health Wellness Center, Downtown Oak Park, greenline wheels, and The Juice Joint before ending at our 7th Annual OK Chili-Cookoff at Brian Boru Irish Pub in Forest Park! Excellent job braving the elements by all of our runners! Thanks to all the runners, volunteers, and our sponsors Weichert Realtors Nickel Group, Midtown Athletic Club, PureHealth, Jimmy’s Place, Brian Boru Irish Pub, and Whole Foods Market River Forest!

JANUARY 11, 2015

The 7th Annual Chili Cook Off

A great big thanks to all of the amazing people who helped plan and put on this event! And to those who came out to join us and celebrate our cause and those who supported it from afar, we thank you very much. To all of the brave runners who beared the elements in the Chilly Dash, the awesome chili chefs who shared their batch, our celebrity chef judges, Chef Aram Reed, Steve Skrine of Skrine Chops and Brendan O’Connor of Big Guys Sausage Stand we also say much love and big thanks! Even more special thanks to our sponsors: Weichert Realtors Nickel, Molly Malones, The Juice Joint, The Competitive Foot, Pure Health & Wellness, AA Rental, Middle Coast Group, Sugared Sweets and Cash America. We are so lucky to have so many great people pitching in to make for such great events! We hope you had a blast with us. Can’t wait to do it again next year!